


Under the Skin

by Ninalb



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cuddling & Snuggling, Depression, Drinking to Cope, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Heartbreak, Heavy Drinking, It gets a little dark but trust me there is a happy ending, Kidnapping, Loneliness, M/M, Mentioned Physical Abuse and Emotional Abuse, Monster Tom, Red Army, Red Leader, Ringo because it can't be eddsworld without Ringo, Second Chances, Slow Build, Trust Issues, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 07:43:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16828189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninalb/pseuds/Ninalb
Summary: "I am giving you two choices. You either break up with him or I kill him. There is no need for wavering loyalties over petty things like love.""I choose to break up with him.""If I even see him trying to be around you, I will kill him.""I will make sure he gets the message loud and clear.""Good."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, ninalb here! 
> 
> I wanted to write about some things that I've been going through. It's not really a vent but it's just an outlet for some of the emotional issues that I've been dealing with. This being said, there are some trigger warnings. There will be alcoholism, depression, and mild traumatic issues in this story so if you aren't comfortable with reading about this, please don't. 
> 
> With that aside, I'm hoping that this will be a good book as it's the first I am writing for the Eddsworld Fandom. I've been part of this fandom for almost a year now and I have to say that I love the characters. I'm surprised that it has taken me this long to be write a story about it. Also THESE CHARACTERS ARE NOT MEANT TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE REAL LIFE PEOPLE.

Tom yawned, the light of the tv reflecting in his eyes. He was sitting on the couch with his roommates, watching a Doctor Why marathon. He was sitting on one end with Tord right next to him. Tord’s arm was wrapped around his waist almost protectively. Edd sat next to Tord with Matt on his other side, watching the tv from the reflection in his mirror. Tom blinked sleepily, leaning into Tord and resting his head on his shoulder. Tord turned his head so that his cheek was resting on his head. Tom let out a sigh of contentment. Tucked into the nook of Tord’s shoulder and feeling comfortably warm, Tom slipped into a light sleep.

Tord gave a slight smile at this, peeking Tom on the cheek before turning back to the TV. 

“Wow, that’s a new record,” Edd commented, “15 minutes and he’s already out.”

“I know.” Tord chuckled, watching Tom rise and fall with his breathing, “He must not be getting good sleep.”

“We should ask him,” Edd hummed.

Their attention was turned back to the tv as the drama was rising. Their eyebrows all furrowed in exasperation as the problem was solved by another magical thing from Doctor Why’s unending stream of deus ex machina’s. 

“Ugh, I can’t watch this anymore.” Edd sighed, flicking the tv off.

“It is 11:30pm already.” Tord hummed, shifting Tom so he could slide his other arm under his legs, “I’m going to take him to bed.”

Edd let out a yawn that Tord couldn’t help catching.

“And I guess I’ll head to bed after this,” Tord laughed.

“Agree. Come on, Matt.” Edd tugged on Matt’s sleeve.

Matt groaned, put his mirror down and followed after Edd.

Tord carried Tom to his room, pressing his back against the doorknob. He tried to twist it by sliding down, but he wasn’t having any luck.

“Ohh! Tord! Let me get that for you!” Matt offered, and Tord stepped out of the way so Matt could open the door.

He let it swing open before wishing Tord a good night. Tord did the same before settling Tom down on the bed. Tom mumbled something incoherent, rolling over so that he was diagonal across the bed. Tord rolled his eyes, moving the covers to cover Tom before leaving the room. He quietly shut the door before he went into his own bedroom, flopping down on the bed and pulling out his phone.

“1 New Message: From Boss

I need to meet with you. Now. You have a flight scheduled in 3 days from today.”

Tord sighed, hooking his phone up to the charge before giving it a small toss onto his bedside table. The Red Leader wanted to have a meeting. This wouldn’t be good. He would figure it out tomorrow. Tonight, he pulled over covers up to his neck before letting his eyes slip shut.


	2. Chapter 2

Tord woke up with the dying need to pee. He groaned, mourning the loss of his warm covers as he kicked his legs over the side of the bed and lurched to a stand. He shivered, the floor was cold against his feet. He trudged to the bathroom, relieving himself, washing his hands, and flicking the lights off. It was still night time, and because he had turned on the lights, he wasn’t able to see in the dark now. He felt for the wall as he moved back to his room, walking slowly in case something was in front of him. God forbid he stub his toe right now. As he was making the journey back to his bed, he could hear a snarl coming from Tom’s room. Tord shook himself awake, quickly moving to the closed door. He pressed his ear up against the door, listening. 

Yes, there was an unmistakable hiss/growl and the sound of rustling sheets. Tord pushed the door open, looking at a giant ball of covers in the middle of Tom’s bed. There was an eerie purple tint on the walls as Tord walked into the room.

“Tom?” Tord called, “Are you okay?”

There was no answer, but he could hear his ragged breathing. Tord inched forward, taking a seat on the end of the bed. 

“Did you have a nightmare? It’s okay. You can tell me.” Tord said, scooting up so he could lay his head on a pillow.

There was a choking cough that shook the blankets. Concern spiked in Tord's chest as he started searching through the covers. His hands felt the warm heat of Tom's body, and he gave him a little tug. The blanket ball gave a rumble in response and the more that Tord tugged, the brighter the purple light became.

"Tooord" Came a gravelly hiss, "Just leave me alone."

"Come on," Tord gave him another tug, "I'm your boyfriend. You can talk to me. I won't judge you."

"Jusssst leave me alone." Tom moaned. 

His voice sounded more dual toned. A mix between a deep rumble and a reptilian hiss. Tord couldn't help but let his concern take over as he let go of Tom and gave the blankets a sharp tug. There was a squawk as Tom was flipped around as Tord unwrapped him. Finally, Tord could see a leg. When he reached down to grab it, it felt like he was holding a dog. Even more confused, Tord fought the blankets of Tom, telling him that he would thank him when this was all over. Tord finally managed to take all the covers from Tom who curled up instead. Tord felt for the light switch before turning it on. He let out a sharp gasp as he finally got a full picture of Tom.

Dark purple fur was stretching up his arms and legs, not to mention the large tail tucked between Tom's legs.

"Wha-? What? Tom? What's going on?" Tord knelt down beside him reaching a hand to pet the fur. 

"This doesn't make sense. When did this happen? Why? How?" Tord sputtered his brain trying to come up for an explanation.

Tom's head peeked at him, his two black eyes overflowing with a purple glow. Two purple horns sprouted from his hair accompanied by two long purple ears. His buried his head back down with a pained moan. Tord watched as he grew in size, the purple fur spreading further up to his arms.

"Okay. It's okay. Tom, are you alright? I love you. Please tell me you're alright." Tord worried, scrambling next to Tom.

"I'm fiiine." Tom hissed, "It's jusssst painful."

Tord tried to wrap his body around Tom only to find that Tom was nowhere near as small as he usually was. He was the shortest of the group unless you counted his hair which made him taller than Edd, Tom had grown bigger than Tord. At this point, he was probably taller than Matt as well.

"Has this happened before?" Tord asked, rushing to grab his boyfriend a cup of water.

"Yesss." Tom growled, "When Edd got superpowers, I turned into a monster. Since then, this happens every once and a while. Mostly when I'm stressed."

"Okay. Want some water?" Tord handed Tom the cup. 

His eyes widened at the sight of sharp jagged teeth when Tom opened his mouth. Tom lapped at the water similar to a cat before tossing his head back and downing the whole thing in one gulp.

"Thanks," Tom sighed, his tongue swiping around his mouth. 

Tord crawled back into bed and laid next Tom.

"I'm ssssorrry." Tom hissed.

"About what?" Tord asked, turning his head to face him.

"About this. About me." Tom gestured to himself, his ears flattening back.

"You're still Tom. I still love you. It's a little bit to take in right now, but this doesn't change anything. This doesn't change you." Tord reached over and scratched behind Tom's ear. 

Tom let out a deep purr, his face blushing a shade of purple but he didn't move away from the touch. Tom instead found himself leaning into it and curling around Tord. Tord gave him a kiss on the nose, whispering an "I love you, my purple fluff monster," to him.

Tom gave him a slobbery lick across his cheek, which Tord pretended to be upset over as he whipped his saliva on the purple fur sprouting on Tom's chest. Tom gave a displeased growl which caused Tord to start laughing as he snuggled into Tom's purple coat.

(Line break)

When Tord woke up the next morning, he was blasted in the face by a giant gust of warm air. He looked up, letting out a startled scream as he jumped out of bed. This prompted Tom to leap out of bed as well, leaping to all fours. His ears were flattened back against his head as Tord put his hands up in a placating gesture.

"Sorry. Sorry. I just forgot," Tord apologized, "Plus you look different from when I fell asleep."

He reached his hand out, and Tom put his giant nose in his palm. At least Tom had some self-awareness. Maybe.

"Do you know who I am?" Tord asked cautiously.

Tom let out a bark. 

"Okay. I'm going to take that as a yes." Tord said.

He turned to Tom walking around him and poking him in some places. Tom looked like the mix of a dragon, lion, and dog. He acted like a dog. His elonged body, horns, long muzzle, tail, and claws made it look like he borrowed them from a dragon. He had four paws and a thick purple "mane" around his neck that made him look part lion. His eyes were their signature black again, with no weird purple mist flowing from them. Tom gave a whine, and Tord watched as Tom started to shrink, his monstrous features disappearing back into his body. Tord couldn't help but wince at the loud cracking noises that came from his body as he shifted.

Tom let out a loud whine as he sank into the floor, completely naked.

"Oh god, Thomas," Tord sighed, grabbing a pair of boxers and a blue hoodie. 

He dressed Tom while he was unconscious, sighing at how hard it was to get pants on a limp body. He laid down next to his boyfriend, combing his hand through his hair as he waited for him to wake up. He was starting to wonder when Tom would wake up as it had been at least an hour after Tom has shifted down. Tord felt a movement at his side and looked away from his phone where he was read a hentai comic. Tom yawned, his eyes blinking open as he came to. He looked at his hands before he turned his head and his eyes met Tord's.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty." Tord smiled.

Tom only let out a sigh and pressed his face into Tord's chest. 

"I'm sorry you had to see me like that. I really didn't want you to- please, please don't-" Tom whimpered.

"I'm going to stop you there." Tord pushed Tom back so he could see his face, "I love you. This doesn't change anything. Everybody has their weird quicks. It's just that your's is turning into a giant purple monster. No big deal."

Tom couldn't help but chuckle at how nonchalant Tord sounded.

"Okay, if you say so," He murmured, pressing his ear up to Tord's chest to listen to the steady beating of his heart.

"I love you so much," Tom hummed.

"I love you too," Tord replied, running his hand through Tom's hair. 

They stayed like this for an hour before Tord's stomach let out a rumbling protest.

"Looks like it's time to get up," Tom smiled.

"Okay," Tord said, hoping to his feet, "I bet Edd already has breakfast made by now." 

"We better go get it before he eats all the bacon," Tom mused.

"Or better yet, eat all the bacon while he has his back turned," Tord smirked.

"You commie, Edd would kill you," Tom laughed.

"Oh ya, Jehovah?" Tord raised an eyebrow, "He would have to catch me first."


	3. Chapter 3

After Tord had practically inhaled all the freshly cooked bacon on the plate and Edd had chased him all around the house with a greasy spatula, the whole comotion came to an end with a resounding SMACK! Edd had delivered a slap to the back of Tord's thighs with the spatula. Tord tumbled to the ground in a fit of laughter while Tom couldn't help but burst out laughing at the scene. 

"That's what you get," Edd had huffed, marching back to the kitchen to restore his bacon pile to its former glory. 

"You deserved that," Tom chuckled, "I told you that you were playing with fire."

"It was worth it," Tord gasped, trying to cut off the last of his laughter which had become painful, "There's nothing more worth it."

Tom joined Tord on the floor, and both of them sat in silence, looking up at the ceiling.

"How much longer should I wait before I head over and eat all the bacon Edd has cooked again." Tord laughed.

"Ohh, I don't think he'd let you get away with it. He'd probably strangle you with the piece of bacon you were eating." Tom chuckled, "It's two strikes, and you're out in Edd's baseball game."

Tom and Tord both snickered at the idea for a second before Tord pushed himself up from the floor. He held his hand out for Tom, who gladly took it. They both made their way over to the kitchen table, where Edd was digging into a pile of bacon, making small talk with Matt when he came up for air. Tom and Tord took their seats, thanking Edd for the plates of breakfast that was waiting out for them.

"You're lucky I had already made your breakfast before you ate all of mine," Edd mumbled.

"Lucky indeed," Tom chuckled, "Otherwise it would be cereal for commie over here."

"Ack, I hate that stuff. It's basically got as many nutrients as wood chips. It never holds me over until lunch." Tord groaned.

Tom started eating his scrambled eggs when something bounced off his head. He looked up to see everyone buried in their meal. He ran a hand through his hair, found nothing, and turned back to his eggs. As soon as he looked down, something bounced off the top of his head again. His head shot up, but everyone was focused on their meal. He decided to catch the culprit, putting his head down but keeping his eyes up. As soon as he lowered his head, he watched Tord smirk, grab a grape from his pile, and hurl it at Tom.

"Gotcha!" Tom cheered as the grape bounced off his forehead.

Tom grabbed a handful of grapes from his plate and pelted them at Tord. Tord fell off his chair laughing as he tried to dodge the purple bullets and Matt let out a wail of "NOT THE FACE!" as a grape hit him in the middle of his nose.

"This is war!" Matt yelped, grabbing a handful of grapes as well and pelting them back at Tom. 

Tord had collected Tom's grape barage off the floor and was chucking them back at Tom. An overwhelming amount of grapes hit Tom and Edd, rolling across the floor. 

"Oh, it's on," Tom sneered, looking at Edd.

Edd nodded in response, and they both ducked under the table, scooping up the grapes. A few spare grapes made their way over while they were picking up their ammo, which they added to their collection. 

"Attack!" Tom and Edd shouted, tossing the grapes into the air. 

They fell towards Tord and Matt who yelled, "Incoming! Get down! Grapes!"

They flopped onto their stomachs, but it didn't prevent the majority of the grapes from raining down on their backs. They both ended up laughing at their stupidity and the now ruined grapes. Ringo, who had been eating peacefully next to the table had retreated behind the couch and was waiting for the bout to be over so that she could continue eating.

"Aww, Ringo," Edd cooed, scooping up the cat and giving her a scratch on the head, "It's okay to come out. We won the war!"

Edd put Ringo down next to her food bowl while Tord and Matt dusted the grapes off of themselves.

"What should we do with the prisoners?" Tom asked, looking down at the losing two.

"Execute them," Edd sniffed.

"We won't go down without a fight!" Matt shouted, tackling Edd.

Edd burst out laughing as Matt started to tickle him. 

"No! No! Wait!" Tom yelped as Tord closed in on him.

Tom found himself tackled to the floor as Tord ran his fingers up and down his sides. 

"NOOOOO!" Tom wailed, struggling to breathe between his laughter.

"We give up! We surRENDER!" Edd laughed, trying to squirm his way out of Matt's grip.

Tom fought back, reaching up and tickling Tord. Tord leaped off of Tom like he was a pile of hot coals, watching as Matt did the same. 

"Okay, okay," Edd panted, flopping down on the couch, "Wheff, ugh, my sides hurt."

His roommates joined him on the couch, breathing heavily as they all tried to catch their breath. 

"Aww, our food's probably cold now," Matt whined, "I hate cold eggs."

"Well, go eat them now. They're only going to get colder." Tord panted.

Edd and Tord watched as Tom and Matt both rushed towards the table, in a desperate attempt to save their maybe not yet cold eggs. They chuckled slightly, knowing the eggs were probably cold by now. A groan from the kitchen confirmed their suspicions. Edd caught his breath and joined the other two to finish his bacon. Tord joined not shortly after, finishing up breakfast before dumping his plate into the sink. He retreated to his room, collecting his cellphone from the table. He unlocked it, opening up the text message sent from Red Leader, or his boss. He sighed, looking up the information for the flight and groaning as it was at 2 am.

"Why couldn't he have gotten a flight at a normal time?" Tord moaned.

In three days, counting today, he would have to go to Norway. He'd better tell Tom.

"Tom!?" Tord called, leaving the messages and locking his phone, "Toooom!"

"What!?" Tom shouted from the other room.

"I need you to come here for a second!" Tord shouted.

"I'm kinda busy! Can you bring it to me?!" Tom replied.

"Busy being lazy!" Tord answered.

"Not true!" Tom argued, "Ugh! Give me a second. I'll be there."

Tord waited, and about 5 minutes later, Tom entered his room mumbling about being interrupted.

"What is it?" Tom asked, taking a seat on his bed.

"I'm going to be leaving for Norway in three days," Tord informed him.

"What?! Why?!" Tom asked.

"Whhhhy? You going to miss me?" Tord teased.

"No," Tom pouted, crossing his arms across his chest.

"It's about my work," Tord told him.

"Your mysterious 'work'" Tom sighed, "I wish you would tell me what you were doing."

"You know that's classified," Tord told him.

"I know. I know," Tom said, "It just would make me feel a lot better. I mean, sometimes I get worried when you're gone for a long time."

"Worried about what?" Tord asked, turning in his spinning chair to face Tom.

"Nothing. Just being paranoid," Tom huffed.

"No, I want to know," Tord pressed.

"I don't know..." Tom bit his lip deciding whether he wanted to tell Tord this or not. 

Eventually, the need to tell someone won over him and Tom let out a sigh. 

"This is your fault if this goes wrong," Tom told his brain.

"I worried that maybe you're going off to see someone else," Tom put slowly.

He watched as Tord's expression quickly changed to upset.

"Why would you think that?" Tord asked a little harshly.

"You know, forget about it," Tom sighed, cursing his brain.

"No, I want to know," Tord said, the intensity in his voice letting Tom know that there was little to no chance of this being let go, "I mean, do you not trust me?"

"No!" Tom shook his head, "I do trust you. I really do! I don't know why I was thinking that. I just...worry a lot."

Tord let out a sigh and made his way over to Tom. He wrapped an arm around his waist and used his other to tilt Tom's face toward his.

"I love you more than anything." Tord whispered, "I would never cheat on you."

With that Tord pressed his lips against Tom's. Tom leaned into it, his doubts disappearing. Tord loved him. He had nothing to fear. Tord would always be there for him. Unlike a couple of other boyfriends who had ended up cheating or dumping him. They had been going strong for two years. Tord leaned his weight into Tom, who fell backward onto the bed. Tord hovered above him, and Tom bit his own lip, looking up into his smoky grey eyes. Tord rolled off him and laid next to him.

"How long are you going to be gone?" Tom asked, laying his head on Tord's shoulder.

"I don't know." Tord sighed, "It'll be as short as possible. I wouldn't be able to stand being away from you that long."


End file.
